


The Box

by Bolt_DMC



Category: Bolt (2008)
Genre: Angst, Music, Stream of Consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-27 03:17:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20400790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bolt_DMC/pseuds/Bolt_DMC
Summary: Occurs during the time period covered by the movie. What was going through Bolt’s mind while he was sealed in that cardboard box, accidentally being shipped from Los Angeles to New York? This story suggests a scenario. Primary cultural references include songs by Johnny Rivers and The Grass Roots.





	The Box

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: October 2008.
> 
> For Simba W.

1.

Wha… wha… wha… huh? Owwwww! My head! My throbbing head! Wow, does it ever hurt! I’ve been having nasty headaches the last several months, but nothing like this. I can’t see a thing, either. And I feel dizzy! So dizzy I can barely move a muscle! What happened? Where am I?

Urgh -- last thing I remember, I was running frantically through corridors, trying to rescue Penny. I heard her panic-stricken calls for help, but didn't see her anywhere. She had to be just out of reach, so near and yet so far away. Just far enough away that I couldn't help her.

And… and… and… oh, now I remember. I saw the pod that was holding Penny again. It was right outside the window of the little room with all those packages in it. I ran straight ahead, certain I would be able to break through the glass and free my person from Dr. Calico's evil clutches. The fiend! How does such a sick, depraved soul live with himself? Kidnapping a helpless, defenseless girl like that! Has he no shame? Has he no heart? Has he no shred of human decency?

I still don't know what happened after that. I jumped right into the window, and it should have smashed to smithereens. They've always done so, without fail. I don't know. Maybe… maybe I encountered some kind of newfangled, state-of-the-art force field or something? The green-eyed man always has scientists busy in his laboratory of degeneracy, cooking up unique contrivances and infernal inventions to thwart me. But I'm always able to outwit his loathsome minions, no matter what they throw at me. So far, I've simply been too smart for those dumb clucks.

Maybe… I dunno… maybe this time I’ve finally met my match. Dog help me, if they've been able to figure out a way to stymie me, I’m really in trouble.

I don't understand it. I’m supposed to be invincible, ready for any conceivable curve ball they throw at me. All the evidence bears that out. Heck, I can bend steel bars, leap over helicopters, outrun racing motorcycles, crash through walls, karate chop storm troopers, blow up tanks with my laser eye beams, and superbark whole armies into a pile of rubble. Penny’s dad genetically altered me to foil any and all contraptions of wrongdoing. We'll just see if I can't figure out a way to break through that force field. I’ll be able to do it! I just know I will! You wait, Calico! You and your teeming hordes will feel the scorching impact of my wrath soon enough! You can't defeat me! You won't defeat me! Heavyweight championship bouts last fifteen rounds, and the victory always goes to the sturdy, the patient, the one who follows the path of highest principle!

And that's me! Me! I… I… oh! Oh! Getting that weird pounding in my chest again. And I'm -- ohhhh! -- feeling so darned dizzy. So dazed I -- I can't keep my eyes open… Uhhhh…

2.

Huh… must have passed out or something. Oh, my aching head! I thought maybe this blinding headache was the reason I couldn’t see anything. My mind feels a tad clearer now, but everything's still as dark as pitch. I guess it really wasn’t the headache after all. And darn it, I still don’t know where I am, or what's happened to me. Well, at least now I feel like I’ve got enough energy to try and get out of this thing I’m stuck in. Whatever it is.

Uh! Uh! Uh! Why can’t I -- Uh! Uh! -- can’t I break free from this -- Uh! Uh! -- this stupid container? Maybe there's a force field surrounding it as well. Wow -- must be really powerful, if that’s what it is. Wonder if it’s got anything to do with this puffy, crinkly substance I can feel all around me? Sure seems to be enough of that stuff in here.

I guess Calico managed to capture me as well. Just isn't my day, is it? Perhaps I'm in a pod, like Penny is. It would make perfect sense. He’s probably dragging us both off to his hideout at Lake Rogaguado, all the better to compel Penny’s dad to serve his wicked schemes of world domination. The green-eyed man will probably put us behind bars, bound and trussed like Thanksgiving turkeys, and threaten us with grievous bodily harm, all the better to force a change of heart from the poor fellow. That brute will stop at nothing -- absolutely nothing, I say -- to push her father’s splendidly labyrinthian mind towards the dark side.

They can do whatever they want to me. I'm not thinking about myself, anyway. I never do. It's Penny I’m worried about. Sweet, innocent girl -- she's done nothing wrong. Nothing at all except happen to be related to the one of the greatest scientists of modern times. Life's so unfair! Poor Penny must pay the price through no fault of her own. She’s so kind, so caring, so full of love -- I wish everyone knew her as well as I do. You can't help but cherish her, to wish her safe from harm. It's up to me to make sure that happens. And it's a heavy responsibility, too. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, Calico is after my dearest Penny! He just won't quit! Why? Why can't he just leave us alone? Aren't there other genius scientists he can recruit? Penny doesn't deserve such a stressful, taxing existence -- she’s too good to be so foully, mercilessly mistreated. Does he truly not care about the horrors he puts my person through? He's one hard-hearted ghoul, that's for sure. A monster. A demon. The devil himself, I say!

As for me, it's an honor -- nay, a privilege -- to be Penny’s protector. I’d give my life gladly, no questions asked, if I knew the death of my insignificant self would ensure Penny’s eternal safety and peace of mind. No sacrifice is too great to make that sweet dream a reality.

Funny -- this reminds me a lot of one of the songs I heard the other day. The one by Johnny Rivers called "Secret Agent Man." What do I know from music, anyway -- but I do remember someone playing that on the radio outside my trailer. Those lyrics -- ah, so true, so true! A secret agent is in danger 24/7. Each and every day, without fail. You don't even get Christmas off. The next corner turned, the next person met, the next experience thrust upon you, could be your last.

It's like that with the green-eyed man, too -- though thus far I’ve been able to outsmart him and his heinous cronies. Or at least until today, that is. Urgh -- for all I know, I may not live to see tomorrow.

Though the more I think about it, I may have slipped up this time, unwittingly bringing peril upon myself and Penny. I’ve always been so vigilant, anticipating every hazard, avoiding every pitfall, sidestepping every snare. Getting into Calico’s super computer seemed easy. Maybe too easy. Those storm trooper mooks of his went down without much of a fight, didn’t they? And the floor behind the computer chair looked suspicious somehow. Turned out the chair was on a slide track, with a trap mechanism in back. I should have realized that right away. The infernal thing jerked backwards, morphed into a pod base, and swallowed up Penny like a man-eating plant.

I feel terrible -- terrible about letting her down. I can’t -- I can’t… Oh, don’t cry, Bolty, don’t cry! That’s not going to solve anything! Ungggh! Why didn’t Penny’s dad engineer crying out of me? I feel so stupid and feeble and useless when I break into tears like this! Ungggh! Stop it! Stop it! Get a hold of yourself, you ridiculous weakling!

There -- there -- better. Much better.

I -- I can’t believe I got fooled like that. Fooled so utterly and completely. I drop my defenses for one second -- just one lousy second, and Penny gets unceremoniously gobbled up by one of Dr. Calico’s diabolical gizmos. Boy, that other song I heard outside my trailer sure is apropos here -- "Where Were You When I Needed You" by the Grass Roots. Penny needed me. Was relying on me. Was counting on me to protect her. And I dropped the ball like a third-string Arena Football wide receiver. I’m always careful. So very careful. But I guess I wasn’t careful enough.

Penny -- please forgive me. I’m so sorry I let you get caught. I’m so sorry I put you in danger and made such a horrendous, awful mistake. I’m your faithful, devoted servant, and I care about you more than you can possibly imagine. Don’t, please don’t hold one slip-up against me. I didn’t mean it. Honest I didn’t.

Please. Don’t stop loving me, Penny, whatever you do.

Ohhh, my head… my head again… I think I'll just close my eyes for a minute and…

3.

Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm-huh? What -- what… must have dozed off for a while. Glad I was able to. Have had a lot of trouble sleeping this past year, and that felt really refreshing.

Hmmm -- what’s that intriguing odor? Funny, I didn't notice it before -- guess I just got too focused on Penny or something. Whatever it is, it smells good. And this is about the time of day that she feeds me, isn't it? Must be food of some kind, I think.

Oh, okay -- now I remember what that is. It's a submarine sandwich. The salami’s a dead giveaway. My person and I share those in my trailer once in a while after I've saved her from those wretched villains. So scrumptious! It's gotta be an Italian sub -- I’m getting a whiff of capicola and provolone cheese. And tomato, too, and… and lettuce. I should probably eat it. Unless… unless…

Unless maybe it’s been poisoned. Yeah, that could be, couldn’t it? It’d be just like the green-eyed man to tempt me with something yummy, all the better to kill me off once and for all. Wouldn't put it past him, that's for sure. He’s plenty vile enough to try it. But…

But, you know what? That doesn't really make a lot of sense when you think about it, does it? Why would he poison me if he's captured me in a pod and is trundling me all the way out to Bolivia to be held hostage with Penny? He’d just lace the food in my trailer and have done with it, right? That would be so much simpler. I mean, look -- he's going to all the trouble to ship me on a plane. And I know I'm on a plane, too -- been hearing those jet engine noises all the time I've been conscious. He needs me alive and kicking, no question about that.

So – do I eat it or not? Okay, okay -- think this through, Bolty, think this through. Carefully.

Y’know, I think I should eat it. Need to keep my strength up, because sooner or later Dr. Calico will have to let me out of this pod. My best chance -- my only chance, mind you -- will be to leap out as soon as they release me. If I'm quick, they won’t be able to tie me up, and hopefully I can save Penny, too. The element of surprise. That's going to be crucial. And I can't be weak and collapsing when my person needs me most. I’ve been losing my appetite a lot lately, but now’s not the time. I need to eat. I must! It could be a matter of life or death, rescue or capture. Guess I'll have to risk it.

Mmph! Just as delicious as I remember. If the green-eyed man poisoned this, he did a great job disguising the toxin. Didn't leave me a lot of food, though -- it seems like much of the sandwich is already gone. Maybe the thug who caught me was careless and dropped his half-eaten lunch in the pod when I was captured. Or maybe… or maybe Calico decided not to be too generous with the food, leaving only enough for minimal sustenance during the flight but not providing enough to nourish me at full strength. It would be just like that wicked coward -- keep me alive but weak, all the easier to torture me upon arrival. Wouldn't put it past the rotten scoundrel. Hope the sandwich stays down, though. Been vomiting up food about half the time nowadays.

Ah well -- maybe it’s time for this little shepherd to try and get a bit more shuteye. There's nothing to do cooped up here in the dark, and it’s a long way to that secret hideout. Need to be as fully rested as possible when I surprise them. At least the drone of the airplane engines is soothing. So very soothing… So… Very…

4.

Zzzzzzz, what… what… what… oh! Oh, good! I must have fallen asleep. And it feels like I’ve slept for days. Couldn't be that long, though, or I’d have died of thirst. Pooches can last a little less than a week without food, but only a couple days with no water. I’m not a camel, for dog’s sake -- my superpowers only extend so far.

Huh. Feels like I'm riding in a truck now. The plane engine sounds have stopped, and I'm hearing traffic noises. I must be getting close to ground zero. Shouldn't be that long.

Okay -- okay. You know what to do, Bolty, you know what to do. As soon as they open up the pod, jump out fast. Survey the situation immediately to find out where the danger is. Distract them with loud barking. Whatever you do, don't let them grab you or put anything on or around you. Get the drop on them, before they get the drop on you. Penny’s very life is at stake here. Save your human. Save! Your! Human!

The truck seems like it has stopped. Ooof! Oh no! They tipped the pod onto a hand cart or something.

Uh! Uh! Uh! Contents may have shifted during shipment. And they did, no question, or I wouldn't be lying on my back right now. Must -- must get myself -- Uh! -- right side up so I can -- Uh! -- leap out and surprise my captors -- Uh! Oh -- oh good! Someone's opening the pod up. It’s now or never! Go, Bolty, go! Go! Go! Go!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm assuming the worker in the mailroom back in Los Angeles carelessly dropped his partly-eaten sub sandwich into the box Bolt ended up in. No, the dog isn't hallucinating.


End file.
